Ater getting everything set up yesterday in the cold, I went out today to see how the snow blower works. Luckily, we only had 1 3/4" of snow instead of the 9-17" they predicted. The blower went about 10-15' in 1 3/4" snow, and then clogged up. I cleaned it out and it then did the same thing. For the short time it was running, it threw the snow it managed to get out for a distance of 12-18 inches.

My (uneducated) thoughts as to why is the blower motor is not moving the blade fast enough to throw the snow out of the way. I guess this could be due to:-the bearings or or maybe the chain providing excessive amounts of resistance. -the motor is marginal or worse.

I plan on checking this (when it gets warmer) by disconnecting the chain to check both the chain and how freely the bearings work. I do not know how to check the motor.

If working properly the auger should be really flying! Almost scary fast. you could also try spraying the schute area with PAM cooking spray or silicone to keep the snow from sticking. I rebuilt mine with new bearings and it worked much better afterwards, however I did not rebuild the motor as it really didn't need it.

The single stage snow blower really doesn't do well with less than 3" or so of snow. The auger needs to be pretty well loaded in order to work efficiently (actually throw the snow and not load up). I run the blower so the power use gauge runs on the high end of the red range. I've had good results doing so. I've found on my unit that turning the chute sideways seriously impairs the distance the snow will travel.

As far as evaluating the bearings, rolling the auger over by hand (or foot) and observing how it coasts to a stop will give some clues as to condition. It should coast to a stop, and will do so fairly quickly in a turn or two, but if it won't coast the auger bearings and/or motor bearings are shot. I've put auger bearings in AA and CA type blowers. Both presented challenges, but the CA type was set up to be changed much more easily. Member robertroll did a nice write-up on that series: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=124&p=524 . The AA series is designed so both bearings have to come off the same end of the shaft (the middle is usually corroded pretty heavily), whereas the CA type can be removed from both sides. The AA that I worked on was especially bad from neglect/disuse and I ended up cutting the bearings off with the oxy-fuel torch. I can give advise to anyone taking on the challenge, if they wish.

FarmallMan wrote:The single stage snow blower really doesn't do well with less than 3" or so of snow. The auger needs to be pretty well loaded in order to work efficiently (actually throw the snow and not load up). I run the blower so the power use gauge runs on the high end of the red range. I've had good results doing so. I've found on my unit that turning the chute sideways seriously impairs the distance the snow will travel.

Nick

Hopefully your in the high end of the yellow on the edge of the red My E15 sure don't like the red very long before stuff gets real HOT, even if its zero outside.

Yes, I do mean the middle to high end of the red but only for a minute or so at a time. Nothing has overheated yet - warm yes, hot no. I am running heavier than normal wiring (4 gauge instead of the stock 6), with new batteries, and all new battery clamps and cables.

Another point of clarification. When I say mid-to-high red zone, I'm talking about on the original style of meter (the one with only 3 zones). The newer tractors have the same zones on the top of the gauge (labeled "MOWING"). On the bottom, the range labeled "HEAVY DUTY ATTACHMENTS" has a green zone that extends from the left completely though the yellow zone of the upper traditional range (so 2/3 of the needle's sweep). The yellow range is the first half of the traditional red zone, and the red zone is the last half of the traditional red zone. If all this is confusing, there is a photo of this gauge on page 2 of Harold Zimmerman's parts list: http://www.myelec-traks.com/harold.pdf

Interesting discussion! I tried my new-to-me snowblower for the first time today, went out early in the morning with only 2-3" on the ground. It didn't throw the snow very far, then the chute plugged. I'm sure the bearings, etc. are OK, but the chute is kinda nasty looking, and I'd done nothing with it. Figured it needed sanding and painting to make it work better. That's an interesting point about it working much better with more snow to handle.

I have had good results bumping up the ground speed in 2 to 3 inches of snow. The 42" blower likes to be loaded for good operation. Over the past several seasons I have had the blower on my EGT150. LL works well on this tractor because more ground speed can be attained with the field weakening speeds. Today I put the snow blower on the old E12s so I was running it in L in light snow. Your power use meter will tell when you are pushing it to hard.